Review article
Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer: mechanisms of carcinogenesis, epidemiology, diagnostics and prophylaxis
Ita Hadžisejdić
; Department of pathology, Faculty of medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
Magdalena Grce
; Department of molecular medicine, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Blaženka Grahovac
; Faculty of medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infecti on is esti mated to be the most common sexually transmitt ed disease and about 75-80% of sexually active men and women will be infected with HPV at some point in their lifeti me. Since the early 1980s when Harald zur Hausen (winner
of the Nobel Prize in 2008 for Physiology or Medicine) detected the HPV genotypes 16 and 18 in cervical cancer, a large number of studies have provided scienti fi c evidence that HPV infection is a key factor in the development of cervical carcinoma. Malignant changes of the cervix occur if multiple conditions are met and they are defined by virus characteristics, anti viral mechanisms and by the cellular immune response of the host. Viral components important in
carcinogenesis are viral genotype, intensity and persistence of the infecti on, while immunogenetic constitution of the individual, cell mediated immune responses and influence of the external
factors such as drugs and diseases defi ne immunopathogenetic contributi on of the host. Key proteins involved in the development of cervical cancer are viral oncogenes, E6 and E7, which interfere with a variety of cellular processes and lead to uncontrolled cell proliferati
on and immortalisation. Therefore, the importance of molecular studies dealing with HPV lies in the fact that they enable us to better understand the HPV pathogenesis and facilitate application of the acquired knowledge in the preventi on of HPV infections, development of prophylactic vaccines and introducti on of molecular diagnosti cs as a standard in the risk assessment for women exposed to the chronic HPV infection.
Keywords
carcinogenesis; cervical cancer; HPV vaccine; Human papillomavirus; molecular diagnostics
Hrčak ID:
53154
URI
Publication date:
7.6.2010.
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